{"id":2010,"date":"2023-04-20T16:45:44","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T16:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=2010"},"modified":"2025-12-03T16:44:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T16:44:38","slug":"9-2-4-learn-it-the-sensorimotor-stage","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/chapter\/9-2-4-learn-it-the-sensorimotor-stage\/","title":{"raw":"Child Development: Learn It 4\u2014The Sensorimotor Stage","rendered":"Child Development: Learn It 4\u2014The Sensorimotor Stage"},"content":{"raw":"<section id=\"fs-idm63810400\" class=\"critical-thinking\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h2>The Sensorimotor Stage<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">The first stage in Piaget's theory is the <strong>sensorimotor stage<\/strong>, which lasts from birth to about 2 years old. During this stage, children learn about the world through their senses and motor behavior. For example, children put objects in their mouths to see if the items are edible, and once they can grasp objects, they may shake or bang them to see if they make sounds.<\/p>\r\n<section class=\"textbox keyTakeaway\">\r\n<h3>the sensorimotor stage<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">Piaget divided the sensorimotor stage into six substages that show the progression from reflexive responses to intentional, goal-directed behavior:<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>Reflexes (Birth to 1 month)<\/strong> Newborns learn through innate reflexes such as sucking, grasping, and rooting. These automatic responses become more deliberate with practice.<\/li>\r\n\t<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>Primary Circular Reactions (1 to 4 months)<\/strong> Infants begin repeating actions involving their own bodies that produce pleasurable results, such as sucking their thumb or kicking their legs.<\/li>\r\n\t<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>Secondary Circular Reactions (4 to 8 months)<\/strong> Infants repeat actions that affect their environment and produce interesting results, such as shaking a rattle to hear the sound or kicking a mobile to make it move.<\/li>\r\n\t<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions (8 to 12 months)<\/strong> Infants combine actions to achieve goals and show intentional, planned behavior. For example, they might push aside a blanket to reach a hidden toy. Object permanence begins to emerge during this substage.<\/li>\r\n\t<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>Tertiary Circular Reactions (12 to 18 months)<\/strong> Toddlers become \"little scientists,\" experimenting with new actions to see different outcomes. They use trial-and-error to explore objects in varied ways, such as dropping items from different heights to observe results.<\/li>\r\n\t<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>Beginning of Representational Thought (18 to 24 months)<\/strong> Toddlers develop symbolic thinking and can solve problems mentally before acting. They engage in pretend play, use objects to represent other things, and can remember and imitate actions they observed earlier (deferred imitation). This marks the transition to the preoperational stage.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<h3 class=\"font-claude-response-heading text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">Object Permanence: A Key Milestone<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">Between 5 and 8 months old (during substage 4), the child develops <strong>object permanence<\/strong>, which is the understanding that even if something is out of sight, it still exists (Bogartz, Shinskey, &amp; Schilling, 2000).<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">According to Piaget, young infants do not remember an object after it has been removed from sight. Piaget studied infants' reactions when a toy was first shown to an infant and then hidden under a blanket. Infants who had already developed object permanence would reach for the hidden toy, indicating that they knew it still existed, whereas infants who had not developed object permanence would appear confused.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">Because toddlers (ages 12\u201324 months) have mastered object permanence, they enjoy games like hide-and-seek and realize that when someone leaves the room they will come back (Loop, 2013). Toddlers also point to pictures in books and look in appropriate places when you ask them to find objects.<\/p>\r\n<section class=\"textbox watchIt\">Watch this brief video demonstrating differing abilities among children in understanding object permanence:<br \/>\r\n<iframe src=\"\/\/plugin.3playmedia.com\/show?mf=1793474&amp;p3sdk_version=1.10.1&amp;p=20361&amp;pt=573&amp;video_id=NCdLNuP7OA8&amp;video_target=tpm-plugin-1tlw01ud-NCdLNuP7OA8\" width=\"800px\" height=\"500px\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0px\" marginheight=\"0px\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><br \/>\r\nYou can <a href=\"https:\/\/oerfiles.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/Psychology\/Transcriptions\/PiagetStage1SensorimotorStageObjectPermanence.txt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">view the transcript for \"Piaget - Stage 1 - Sensorimotor Stage : Object Permanence\" here (opens in new window)<\/a>.<\/section>\r\n<h3 class=\"font-claude-response-heading text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">Stranger Anxiety<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">Around the same time that children develop object permanence, they also begin to exhibit <strong>stranger anxiety<\/strong>, which is a fear of unfamiliar people. Babies may demonstrate this by crying and turning away from a stranger, by clinging to a caregiver, or by attempting to reach their arms toward familiar faces such as parents.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">Stranger anxiety results when a child is unable to assimilate the stranger into an existing schema. Therefore, they can't predict what their experience with that stranger will be like, which results in a fear response.<\/p>\r\n<section class=\"textbox tryIt\">[ohm2_question height=\"200\"]4286[\/ohm2_question]<\/section>\r\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">Criticisms of Piaget<\/h2>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5004\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"]<a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/855\/2016\/11\/04195054\/Dad-1280x854.jpg\"><img class=\"wp-image-5004 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/855\/2016\/11\/04195054\/Dad-1280x854-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Man and baby\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a> <strong>Figure 2<\/strong>. Modern research has shown that babies probably understand more about objects than Piaget originally thought.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<p>Although Piaget\u2019s theory has been very influential, it has not gone unchallenged. Many more recent researchers have obtained findings indicating that cognitive development is considerably more continuous than Piaget claimed.<\/p>\r\n<p>For example, Diamond (1985) found that on the object permanence task described above, infants show earlier knowledge if the waiting period is shorter. At age 6 months, they retrieve the hidden object if the wait is no longer than 2 seconds; at 7 months, they retrieve it if the wait is no longer than 4 seconds; and so on.<\/p>\r\n<p>In addition to rapid physical growth, young children also exhibit significant development of their cognitive abilities. Piaget thought that children\u2019s ability to understand objects\u2014such as learning that a rattle makes a noise when shaken\u2014was a cognitive skill that develops slowly as a child matures and interacts with the environment. Today, developmental psychologists think Piaget was incorrect. Researchers have found that even very young children understand objects and how they work long before they have experience with those objects (Baillargeon, 1987; Baillargeon, Li, Gertner, &amp; Wu, 2011).<\/p>\r\n<section class=\"textbox connectIt\" aria-label=\"Connect It\">\r\n<p>For example, children as young as 3 months old demonstrated knowledge of the properties of objects that they had only viewed and did not have prior experience with them. In one study, 3-month-old infants were shown a truck rolling down a track and behind a screen. The box, which appeared solid but was actually hollow, was placed next to the track. The truck rolled past the box as would be expected. Then the box was placed on the track to block the path of the truck. When the truck was rolled down the track this time, it continued unimpeded. The infants spent significantly more time looking at this impossible event (Figure 2). Baillargeon (1987) concluded that they knew solid objects cannot pass through each other. Baillargeon\u2019s findings suggest that very young children have an understanding of objects and how they work, which Piaget (1954) would have said is beyond their cognitive abilities due to their limited experiences in the world.<\/p>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"923\"]<img class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/textimgs.s3.amazonaws.com\/ospsych\/m49112\/CNX_Psych_09_04_TruckBox.jpg#fixme\" alt=\"Image A shows a toy truck coasting along a track unobstructed. Image B shows a toy truck coasting along a track with a box in the background. Image C shows a truck coasting along a track and going through what appears to be an obstruction.\" width=\"923\" height=\"178\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/> <strong>Figure 2<\/strong>. In Baillargeon\u2019s study, infants observed a truck (a) roll down an unobstructed track, (b) roll down an unobstructed track with an obstruction (box) beside it, and (c) roll down and pass through what appeared to be an obstruction[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<p>Similarly, children\u2019s specific experiences can greatly influence when developmental changes occur. Children of pottery makers in Mexican villages, for example, know that reshaping clay does not change the amount of clay at much younger ages than children who do not have similar experiences (PPrice-Williams, Gordon, &amp; Ramirez, 1969).<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<\/section>","rendered":"<section id=\"fs-idm63810400\" class=\"critical-thinking\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h2>The Sensorimotor Stage<\/h2>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">The first stage in Piaget&#8217;s theory is the <strong>sensorimotor stage<\/strong>, which lasts from birth to about 2 years old. During this stage, children learn about the world through their senses and motor behavior. For example, children put objects in their mouths to see if the items are edible, and once they can grasp objects, they may shake or bang them to see if they make sounds.<\/p>\n<section class=\"textbox keyTakeaway\">\n<h3>the sensorimotor stage<\/h3>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">Piaget divided the sensorimotor stage into six substages that show the progression from reflexive responses to intentional, goal-directed behavior:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>Reflexes (Birth to 1 month)<\/strong> Newborns learn through innate reflexes such as sucking, grasping, and rooting. These automatic responses become more deliberate with practice.<\/li>\n<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>Primary Circular Reactions (1 to 4 months)<\/strong> Infants begin repeating actions involving their own bodies that produce pleasurable results, such as sucking their thumb or kicking their legs.<\/li>\n<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>Secondary Circular Reactions (4 to 8 months)<\/strong> Infants repeat actions that affect their environment and produce interesting results, such as shaking a rattle to hear the sound or kicking a mobile to make it move.<\/li>\n<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions (8 to 12 months)<\/strong> Infants combine actions to achieve goals and show intentional, planned behavior. For example, they might push aside a blanket to reach a hidden toy. Object permanence begins to emerge during this substage.<\/li>\n<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>Tertiary Circular Reactions (12 to 18 months)<\/strong> Toddlers become &#8220;little scientists,&#8221; experimenting with new actions to see different outcomes. They use trial-and-error to explore objects in varied ways, such as dropping items from different heights to observe results.<\/li>\n<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>Beginning of Representational Thought (18 to 24 months)<\/strong> Toddlers develop symbolic thinking and can solve problems mentally before acting. They engage in pretend play, use objects to represent other things, and can remember and imitate actions they observed earlier (deferred imitation). This marks the transition to the preoperational stage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<h3 class=\"font-claude-response-heading text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">Object Permanence: A Key Milestone<\/h3>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">Between 5 and 8 months old (during substage 4), the child develops <strong>object permanence<\/strong>, which is the understanding that even if something is out of sight, it still exists (Bogartz, Shinskey, &amp; Schilling, 2000).<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">According to Piaget, young infants do not remember an object after it has been removed from sight. Piaget studied infants&#8217; reactions when a toy was first shown to an infant and then hidden under a blanket. Infants who had already developed object permanence would reach for the hidden toy, indicating that they knew it still existed, whereas infants who had not developed object permanence would appear confused.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">Because toddlers (ages 12\u201324 months) have mastered object permanence, they enjoy games like hide-and-seek and realize that when someone leaves the room they will come back (Loop, 2013). Toddlers also point to pictures in books and look in appropriate places when you ask them to find objects.<\/p>\n<section class=\"textbox watchIt\">Watch this brief video demonstrating differing abilities among children in understanding object permanence:<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/plugin.3playmedia.com\/show?mf=1793474&amp;p3sdk_version=1.10.1&amp;p=20361&amp;pt=573&amp;video_id=NCdLNuP7OA8&amp;video_target=tpm-plugin-1tlw01ud-NCdLNuP7OA8\" width=\"800px\" height=\"500px\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0px\" marginheight=\"0px\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nYou can <a href=\"https:\/\/oerfiles.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/Psychology\/Transcriptions\/PiagetStage1SensorimotorStageObjectPermanence.txt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">view the transcript for &#8220;Piaget &#8211; Stage 1 &#8211; Sensorimotor Stage : Object Permanence&#8221; here (opens in new window)<\/a>.<\/section>\n<h3 class=\"font-claude-response-heading text-text-100 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">Stranger Anxiety<\/h3>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">Around the same time that children develop object permanence, they also begin to exhibit <strong>stranger anxiety<\/strong>, which is a fear of unfamiliar people. Babies may demonstrate this by crying and turning away from a stranger, by clinging to a caregiver, or by attempting to reach their arms toward familiar faces such as parents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">Stranger anxiety results when a child is unable to assimilate the stranger into an existing schema. Therefore, they can&#8217;t predict what their experience with that stranger will be like, which results in a fear response.<\/p>\n<section class=\"textbox tryIt\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"ohm4286\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/ohm.one.lumenlearning.com\/multiembedq.php?id=4286&theme=lumen&iframe_resize_id=ohm4286&source=tnh&show_question_numbers\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200\"><\/iframe><\/section>\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">Criticisms of Piaget<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5004\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5004\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/855\/2016\/11\/04195054\/Dad-1280x854.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5004 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/855\/2016\/11\/04195054\/Dad-1280x854-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Man and baby\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5004\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 2<\/strong>. Modern research has shown that babies probably understand more about objects than Piaget originally thought.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Although Piaget\u2019s theory has been very influential, it has not gone unchallenged. Many more recent researchers have obtained findings indicating that cognitive development is considerably more continuous than Piaget claimed.<\/p>\n<p>For example, Diamond (1985) found that on the object permanence task described above, infants show earlier knowledge if the waiting period is shorter. At age 6 months, they retrieve the hidden object if the wait is no longer than 2 seconds; at 7 months, they retrieve it if the wait is no longer than 4 seconds; and so on.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to rapid physical growth, young children also exhibit significant development of their cognitive abilities. Piaget thought that children\u2019s ability to understand objects\u2014such as learning that a rattle makes a noise when shaken\u2014was a cognitive skill that develops slowly as a child matures and interacts with the environment. Today, developmental psychologists think Piaget was incorrect. Researchers have found that even very young children understand objects and how they work long before they have experience with those objects (Baillargeon, 1987; Baillargeon, Li, Gertner, &amp; Wu, 2011).<\/p>\n<section class=\"textbox connectIt\" aria-label=\"Connect It\">\n<p>For example, children as young as 3 months old demonstrated knowledge of the properties of objects that they had only viewed and did not have prior experience with them. In one study, 3-month-old infants were shown a truck rolling down a track and behind a screen. The box, which appeared solid but was actually hollow, was placed next to the track. The truck rolled past the box as would be expected. Then the box was placed on the track to block the path of the truck. When the truck was rolled down the track this time, it continued unimpeded. The infants spent significantly more time looking at this impossible event (Figure 2). Baillargeon (1987) concluded that they knew solid objects cannot pass through each other. Baillargeon\u2019s findings suggest that very young children have an understanding of objects and how they work, which Piaget (1954) would have said is beyond their cognitive abilities due to their limited experiences in the world.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 923px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/textimgs.s3.amazonaws.com\/ospsych\/m49112\/CNX_Psych_09_04_TruckBox.jpg#fixme\" alt=\"Image A shows a toy truck coasting along a track unobstructed. Image B shows a toy truck coasting along a track with a box in the background. Image C shows a truck coasting along a track and going through what appears to be an obstruction.\" width=\"923\" height=\"178\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 2<\/strong>. In Baillargeon\u2019s study, infants observed a truck (a) roll down an unobstructed track, (b) roll down an unobstructed track with an obstruction (box) beside it, and (c) roll down and pass through what appeared to be an obstruction<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Similarly, children\u2019s specific experiences can greatly influence when developmental changes occur. Children of pottery makers in Mexican villages, for example, know that reshaping clay does not change the amount of clay at much younger ages than children who do not have similar experiences (PPrice-Williams, Gordon, &amp; Ramirez, 1969).<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"menu_order":12,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Lifespan Theories\",\"author\":\"OpenStax\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/openstax.org\/books\/psychology-2e\/pages\/9-2-lifespan-theories\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"Access for free at https:\/\/openstax.org\/books\/psychology-2e\/pages\/1-introduction\"},{\"type\":\"copyrighted_video\",\"description\":\"Piaget - Stage 1 - Sensorimotor stage : Object Permanence\",\"author\":\"Geert Stienissen\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NCdLNuP7OA8\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"other\",\"license_terms\":\"Standard YouTube License\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Piaget\\'s Criticisms\",\"author\":\"Robert Siegler\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nobaproject.com\/modules\/cognitive-development-in-childhood\",\"project\":\"The Noba Project\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"part":545,"module-header":"learn_it","content_attributions":null,"internal_book_links":[],"video_content":null,"cc_video_embed_content":{"cc_scripts":"","media_targets":[]},"try_it_collection":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2010"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7324,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2010\/revisions\/7324"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/545"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2010\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=2010"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=2010"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=2010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}